Thursday, 17 November 2016

Husavik is a town on the north east coast, according to some records the country's first permanent Norse settlement back in 874 AD. We spent a day on a local horse farm, getting acquainted with the Icelandic horse (and a couple of its canine friends).

The only breed of horse throughout Iceland, the law forbids the import of horses and the return of any Icelandic horse that has been exported for whatever reason (some were exported to the UK to work in coal mines). Icelandic horses are small and have two additional gaits to the walk, trot, and canter/gallop of other breeds and we were treated to an impressive display.

Then onto the Snaefellsnes peninsula in the north west, with its backdrop of ice capped mountains, waterfalls, raging seas, black lava beaches. And a whale or two.

Monday, 16 February 2015

We were based in the capital and the country's only city, Reykjavik, hiked across snow and ice, experienced daytime temperatures which didn't rise above freezing point and dropped to as low as -15C, searched in vain until 2 a.m. for a sighting of the Northern Lights, marvelled at frozen waterfalls, oohed and aahed and dodged as columns of steam and water erupted from the ground.

Random stuff

The population of Iceland is about 340,000

Reykjavík is the world's northernmost capital

60% of the population live in Reykjavik

Icelanders watch more films at the cinema than any other nation

Beer was banned nationwide until 1989. Beer Day is now celebrated every year on March 1st

Icelanders consume more Coca Cola per head than any other country

The last names of Icelanders are derived from their fathers' first names plus the word ‘son’ for men and ‘daughter’ for women

Iceland has one of the highest per capita rates of car ownership in the world

Contrary to popular belief, which may be fuelled by shops' displays of fluffy toy versions, there are no polar bears in Iceland

The Arctic fox is the only native animal

Geothermal water heats about 90% of homes

Cold water from household taps is pure spring water whilst hot water is provided by geothermal power plants and has a characteristic smell of rotten eggs

Instead of just walk, trot and canter, Icelandic horses uniquely have five gaits

Although Iceland is geographically and culturally part of Europe, half of it lies on the American tectonic plate and is moving westwards at an estimated 1-2 cm a year

Iceland is home of one of the world’s oldest democracies. The Althing, the Icelandic parliament, was established in 930

This was the first country in the world to have a democratically elected female head of state

The majority of Icelanders admit to believing in the existence of elves and trolls

At Christmas, Icelanders are visited by not one Santa Claus but 13. The so called 'Yule Lads', with names like 'Spoon Licker', 'Sausage Stealer' and 'Window Peeper, live with their troll parents and a big black cat in the mountains and take turns to visit the towns at night during the 13 days of Christmas. Every child leaves a shoe in the window, hopeful of being left a sweet or small toy and not a rotten spud